Charles de Lint is often credited for pioneering the urban fantasy genre, and it’s clear to see why as his particular blend of contemporary fantasy does an excellent job of blending magic and the unreal with the modern world. The Little Country is a great example of this, making Cornish folk tradition the target of a group of power-hungry megalomaniacs; a story realised through a musician’s efforts to unravel the secrets of a unique book and the connection between music and magic. In between, there’s a whole shrunken woman’s sub-adventure.
It’s a layered, expansive and engaging tale, of particular note here because of that story within the story, in fact essentially a parallel novel, in which a young lady, Jodi, is shrunk by a witch and has various misadventures trying to get back to her normal size. This is a fun adventure with a few moments of interaction between Jodi and the now seemingly giant-sized people around her. She is trapped in an aquarium where she meets a small man and together they escape, avoiding a goblin-like fetch and riding on the collar of a dog.
Once Jodi has escaped and is reunited with her friends, they scheme to get to the magic Barrow Lands and thwart the witch; over the course of their efforts, Jodi rides on her older male inventor friend’s shoulder, and is also handled by a beautiful secretary, Lizzie, who is swept along by events by virtue of dating a magician they go to for help. It is often Lizzie who picks up Jodi, and she finally carries her to the magic stone at the end, and there’s a charming scene of repose where Jodi spends a day hiding with Lizzie. Bored, she potters about on the desk playing with oversized things until Lizzie worries someone will see her and gets her to return to her pocket – where Jodi spends most of the day. From this vantage point, Jodi has a conversation with Lizzie, whose monstrously large head above makes her feel dizzy. The dramatic finale also sees Jodi caught by the witch and squeezed and shaken in her hands, though she ultimately escapes (with rather brutal results for the witch).
Aside from Jodi’s adventure, the book frequently mentions the existence of “picksies” and “Smalls”, mostly as something people don’t believe in but occasionally as real. The musician finds a photo of a tiny man playing a fiddle next to a girl, and dreams of a tiny man emerging from a book – though this quickly devolves into a nightmare.
There are big gaps between Jodi’s tale and mentions of such magic, interwoven with a more ordinary tale of deceit and intrigue as various nasty characters come into town looking for the book, but overall The Little Country is a wonderfully realised story that keeps up a good sense of wonder, and includes some really fun size-play. I really enjoyed it and look forward to exploring more of De Lint’s work; for one, I’m aware he’s got more than one more book involving small people!
